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Question:

Question

Answer:

What do we when outside government authorities
are involved in our child raising?

This becomes a difficult question to answer well because much depends
on the reason the government has seen fit to interfere. The best that
I can do is answer in general and hope that I have hit upon your particular
situation.

The apostle Paul tells us, "Let every soul be subject to the
governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and
the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists
the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will
bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works,
but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good,
and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you
for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword
in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him
who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of
wrath but also for conscience' sake" (Romans 13:1-5). The general
rule is that governments have little reason to interfere with the lives
of the righteous and so the righteous are instructed to cooperate as best
that they can. It is especially telling that Paul wrote this shortly before
his own arrest in Jerusalem. The Roman government of that time did not
hold a favorable view of Christianity.

Peter also argued the same, "Therefore submit yourselves to every
ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme,
or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of
evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will
of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish
men -- as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants
of God" (I Peter 2:13-16). Hence, the general rule is that Christians
cooperate with the governing authorities as best they can.

Of course, this will eventually lead to a conflict of interest. Corrupt
people exist throughout the world, and governments are not immune from
their presence. In fact, because governments are centers of power, they
tend to accumulate more than their fair share of the corrupt. "Moreover
I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and
in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there" (Ecclesiastes
3:16). We must keep in mind that governments exist by the ordinance of
God -- whether they accept God or not. When there is a conflict between
the government of men and the law of God, God's law always prevails as
it is the higher authority. Hence, when Peter and the apostles were commanded
by the ruling council of their day to stop preaching about Jesus, their
response was, "We ought to obey God rather than men"
(Acts 5:29).

If there is a specific issue that you would like to see addressed, I
will be happy to do in a follow-on response.

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